ARBORICULTURE OF THE COUNTY OF KENT. 155 



acreage of hops amounts to nearly 100,000 acres, it is evident that 

 the cultivation of coppice for hop poles must yield a handsome re- 

 turn. And as, in oxtr time, present profit is more looked at than 

 future prospects, consecpiently it is not to be wondered at that the 

 cultivation of coppice, which often realises from £30 to £40 per 

 acre in ten years, receives so much attention. 



The demand for hop poles has recently increased much owing to 

 the extension of hop plantations, and has caused the importation 

 of spruce fir hop poles from Norway and Sweden, which sell from 

 20s. to 45s. per 100, according to size, leaving the importer a 

 large profit. As supply and demand are the ruling agents in all 

 trades, the less acreage of coppice and the more of hop plantations, 

 the price of hop poles, in proportion, must inevitably rise. 



The system of management in this county has been to thin the 

 oaks severely, and fill up with Spanish chestnut, ash, willow, or 

 alder, as the ground is adapted for each of these trees. The hazel 

 and oak coppice, natural to the soil, is gradually giving place to 

 coppice of chestnut and ash. As the hazel and oak are not nearly 

 so durable for hop poles as chestnut and ash, they sell at a corre- 

 spondingly low price. This system has been carried on for a con- 

 siderable time, and now many of the plantations are in a satisfac- 

 tory state, thickly studded with fine, clean, straight, and thriving 

 coppice, carefully looked after, and with all vacant spaces filled iip. 

 Previous to the underwood being exposed to public sale, which 

 is the usual system of disposal, the coppice is inspected, and a 

 number of the best oak tellers, grown from the acom, are marked 

 with red paint, to be reserved for oak timber, so as to maintain the 

 amenity of the estates. This opei'ation is tedious and laborious, 

 owing to the thickness of the almost impenetrable coppice, and 

 much time is occupied in the operation on estates where from 200 

 to 250 acres ai*e sold annually. 



The underwood is afterwards lotted in different sizes, and ex- 

 posed to sale by public auction, subject to such conditions as insure 

 the vendor the payment of each lot, and that the ware is all cut 

 and cleared within the time specified. Before commencing to cut 

 the underwood the purchaser pays a deposit, and finds security for 

 the remainder, failing in such, in the given time specified, the lot 

 or lots are resold, and the deficiency, if any, made good by the 

 defaulter. 



The underwood is afterwards cut and cleared out of the wood, 

 before the 1st of May, by the purchaser, and all ware found in the 



